Romero-024
This article contains unmarked spoilers to Act 2 and onward of Rise of the Spartans. "What if I told you that we are the hope? You and I... Memphis and Al... everyone fighting this war. We're all the hope we need. And we're ''not going to lose it here."'' Romero-024, known more commonly as Brass, is a UNSC SPARTAN commando of SPARTAN Dispatch Unit Kilo. He provides key fire support with his various miniguns and essential distractions with his hologram. Brass is portrayed by halosavior007. History SPARTAN Academy :"Well, what's your role?" :"Me? Who cares? I'm going for the gold. They wanted me on recon, and I chose vehicles." Four years before the Fall of Reach and during his time at the Spartan Academy, Romero was made the roommate of Clyde-213 ("Swift") and eagerly signed the both of them up for the Academy's squad program and its preliminary training. Their vehicular specialty would be the driving force for their eventual squad leader, David-617 ("Nightflash"), to defy the Academy's system and join them. Initially, Romero (then a Tier-Two Cadet) was fairly dismissive of David for his position as a recruit and maintained a constant ambition to reach the Academy's Tier One - this was the reason for his nickname, Brass. The former, however, would fade over time as the squad members became closer to each other. The death of the Actuarian at David's hands, prompted by the arrest of the latter, would interrupt this dynamic and render Romero barred from reaching Tier One. By the time of SDU Kilo's formation, Romero no longer seemed concerned about the issue and apparently held no ill will towards David for his actions. Although he kept the nickname "Brass", Romero also kept his armor red as it had been in the Academy to indicate that Tier One was no longer important to him. Fall of Reach Upon joining SPARTAN Dispatch Unit Kilo, Brass appeared to stay close to Nightflash and Swift in the Sinoviet Building of New Alexandria. He favored the rooftop from which he could watch the dogfights, and where he was reunited with Nightflash and gave sound advice to Randy-806 ("Ocelot"). Brass's input would soon prove essential to convincing Ocelot to leave Reach with the rest of SDU Kilo. With the help of Trident Industries (whose CEO was a close friend to Nightflash), SDU Kilo made arrangements to utilize a Forerunner teleporter after orchestrating an explosion to have themselves mistakenly listed as missing in action. Although invading Elite forces caused difficulties in evacuation, the Spartan team successfully departed from Reach; Brass was the first of the team to leave. Arrival and the Battle of Tempest Although Trident Industries succeeded in teleporting SDU Kilo off of Reach, Brass and his teammates landed spread out across Halo, rather than their target destination of Arcadia. Brass in particular landed on the shores of the Covenant-controlled Tempest facility, narrowly avoiding a series of plasma volleys with the help of an ODST team consisting of Spectre, Stephen, and Nathan. Despite a harsh initial reception due to nearly blowing their cover, Brass was soon accepted by the ODST's and learned about the situation that the garrison of the [[UNSC Midsummer Night|UNSC Midsummer Night]] was facing. Brass's presence gave the ODST's new confidence, and they became willing to organize an infiltration of the Tempest facility. Their first attempts at infiltration utilized Brass's hologram as a distraction, but failed due to poor planning. The final infiltration attempt involved Brass walking right through the defensive layer; the Elites, mistaking Brass for a hologram, ignored him and searched for the hologram's source. Brass continued to sneak through the Tempest facility for the remainder of the battle, witnessing the Spec Ops Elite Kalos Asalee running experiments on the Forerunner A.I. Combat. During Brass's infiltration, Spectre was taken prisoner by a small Elite ambush; Stephan and Nathan had teamed up with Swift, Mark, and Maria-316 ("Whisper") to assault the Covenant facility and rescue both Combat and Spectre. Brass, however, had rescued Spectre by the time Commander Ryan's reinforcements arrived. Using a new minigun that he had christened "Sam", Brass and Spectre forced Kalos to retreat without taking Combat. After the Battle of Tempest concluded, Brass reunited Swift and Combat, the latter becoming SPARTAN Dispatch Unit Kilo's impromptu sixth member. By evening, Brass, Swift, Whisper, and Mark departed from Tempest to find the rest of SDU Kilo at the coordinates of Senior Commander Lucas Gradeur ("Archangel")'s battalion. Reunification and Celebration By the time Brass and the others arrived at the valley, Archangel's battalion, including Nightflash and Ocelot, had already left to establish a base on the nearby island. The Elite Zealot T'kan Ghanee ("Raptor"), a friend of Ocelot, directed the four of them to the island where SDU Kilo finally reunited in the morning. Their meeting was interrupted by a flight of Banshees, which was quickly destroyed, and then the arrival of the 413th Airborne. Although a brief argument between Archangel and the 413th officers caused some tension, Brass responded to Ocelot's suggestion of a party with intense enthusiasm. During the celebration Brass convinced Nightflash (who had been reminded of his murder of the Actuarian) to return to the party, joined a dance-off between Ocelot and Swift, and was either intoxicated enough or happy enough to immediately begin a conga line behind Fido. First Battle of the Island and Forerunner Facility Raid The next morning, Brass mobilized immediately with SDU Kilo (now dubbed the Argonauts) to counter an invading force dispatched by Rha' Tuyokee ("Firelight"), assisting his squad in fighting off the Elites until the invaders were thinned out enough to deploy the 413th's Falcons. The battle was immediately followed by an argument amongst the Argonauts and the crew members of the Midsummer Night, during which Brass unsuccessfully tried to soften the tension. Upon Sev's intervention and Ocelot's approval of his strategy, Brass gathered with the rest of the Argonauts and the 413th to conduct a two-pronged assault upon nearby Covenant garrisons. Brass aided in the initial dogfight as a gunner before being brought with Whisper to a more distant Forerunner Facility, the entrance of which was held by a team of ODST's while the two Spartans entered. At first, Brass and Whisper's raid was successful despite a strong Elite presence including Banshees taking advantage of the facility's wide interior. Their success, however, was undermined by the arrival of a Covenant lance as part of a trap organized by Sev. Upon taking fire, Brass and Whisper had no choice but to retreat into a dead-end shielded hallway. Escape and Second Battle of the Island While pinned down inside the hallway, Brass made an attempt to reassure the distraught Whisper that there was still hope. Their conversation was cut short by the sight of conflict outside the hallway, which had ended as quickly as it had begun. By the time a cautious Brass had exited the hallway to see what was happening, the Covenant lance had been killed; unbeknownst to Brass, the White Lance was responsible. Category:Ex-UNSC Category:SPARTAN Category:SPARTAN Dispatch Unit Kilo